danger, jamie mcmurray!

Welcome to The Fast and the Fabulous! This was a blog based on one woman's thoughts, opinions and experiences involving NASCAR and IndyCar. As of February 20, 2015 this blog is no longer active. Find out why & browse the archives by clicking here.

Anytime a non-Cup regular wins a Nationwide Series race it’s a good thing in my book. Congratulations to Scott Wimmer and his team for winning the Pepsi 300 at Nashville Speedway on Saturday.

I really wish they wouldn’t even let Cup regulars into the Nationwide races in the first place. I think it would allow for more unknowns to show their stuff, everybody always says the Nationwide series is like the minor leagues in baseball right? Well you don’t see Barry Zito or A-Rod spending time with the San Jose Giants or the Charleston RiverDogs. The same should be true for NASCAR. I think it would give people more time to develop their skills and actually give drivers a job that’ll last, instead of having to compete with Cup dudes that have more experience.

It can only mean something is off with McMurray, and it’s something only he can fix. Until he gets his head back in the game, he doesn’t stand a chance at saving his season.

While I recognize the obvious issues and the reality that he needs to put some really good runs together, It still feels a little bit premature to say he’s done for. But then again rides, good rides, are hard to come by these days and there isn’t a lot of room for error. Jamie seems to think his current status is a product of bad luck:

“There are a lot of expectations for myself and the No. 26 IRWIN Industrial Tools team heading into Martinsville this weekend. We know we are outside the top 35 and right now, the only goal we have is to get ourselves back into the top 35. We’ve had a really rough start to the season, and honestly, it’s hard to pinpoint one exact reason — we’ve just had a lot of bad luck. We’ve spent a lot of time over the last week and a half looking at what we need to do avoid the bad luck that has followed us around since the start of the season.

“I’m really glad the next race is Martinsville. Last year, I qualified second in the spring race, and I think ninth in the second race. Martinsville is one of my favorite tracks, so to know that I have to qualify my way in, I’m glad that it’s at Martinsville.

I just hope Jamie and his team can get it (whatever “it” is exactly) together and get back into the top 35.

— Dale Earnhardt Jr. is on one of the ten covers that make up ESPN The Magazine’s tenth anniversary issue. I bought the magazine this past weekend and I have to say that I think it’s one of the best photos ever taken of Dale Jr. He’s looks reeeeally good in that Armani suit. The magazine has two sides, with five covers on each and Dale’s is about 4 pages into the LeBron James side.

— Another Dale Jr. tidbit, he’s going to be featured on MTV Cribs again but this time they cover the western town he built on his land, Whiskey River. Jade Gurss has a photo gallery from the shoot (Jade’s Blog). Exact air dates of this latest Cribs episode are still to be determined.